Forget 2016, this is a different Storm animal

This Grand Final week has a very familiar feel to it.

The Minor Premiers, the Melbourne Storm enter the week as considerable favourites against a side riding a wave of momentum and support.

On October 2nd, 2016, you were hard-pressed to find anyone not wearing black, white and blue, that gave the Sharks much of a chance.

The occasion was surely going to be too much. The weight of the world was on their shoulders.

Standing across from them were Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk, two of the best three players in the game.

Throw in a coach with many many times the level of big game experience than the man standing across the hall from him in Shane Flanagan, and well, the Sharks were baked.

Of course, we all know what happened that day. For those who need a quick run down memory lane, it ended with a frantic last play and the crowning of the Sharks as the NRL's best, for the first time in their history.

So, again this weekend, a similar script will surely follow. Right?

Well, possibly, BUT, this Melbourne Storm is a completely different animal than the Storm who ran out on the final day of the competition last year.

That is not to say that Storm side was not incredible. That side had Koriobete and Proctor, as well as the experienced Blake Green, all missing from this Sunday's side, but the 2017 version of the Storm is even more frightening than the 2016 version.

The number one reason (haha, geddit?) for this is the very presence of Billy Slater.

The Storm custodian had added a new dimension to the Storm's attack, and organisation in defence this season.

His return has also freed up Cameron Munster and his incredibly dangerous running game. Munster has been far more involved in attack after moving into the halves and has become even more dangerous himself.

The Sharks did an incredible job of shutting down Cooper Cronk in last year's decider. He almost won the game regardless of this fact and had Will Chambers had looked up, it would have been a very different result, but the Sharks were able to send Luke Lewis at him all day knowing that Blake Green would not tear them to shreds.

I say that with the greatest of respect to Blake Green who was wonderful last year in the purple, but he isn't capable of the individual, lightning fast magic that Cameron Munster or Billy Slater are.

You've got two youngsters who ooze X-Factor outside in Josh Addo-Carr and Curtis Scott.

Keeping in line with the Sharks theme, the two former Sharks under 20s reps, have set the competition alight this season.

Addo-Carr went from fringe first grader at the Tigers, to one of the most dangerous wingers in the game at the Storm, in a matter of months.

Throw in the ridiculously talented Scott (trust me, as someone who watched on keenly during his time in the 20's, you haven't seen anything yet) who has played well beyond his years, and the results have been a delight for those in purple.

For those opposing those in purple, not so much.

Addo-Carr will likely have scored the try of the season. You could dead set take five or six of his efforts and create a personal try of the year award, such has been his brilliance.

Again, with a great deal of respect, Cheyse Blair is a great player, but Curtis Scott can burn you in seconds.

Slater, Vunivalu, Chambers, Scott, Addo-Carr.

Those five names are going to cause nightmares for Paul Green and his team as they prepare to take down the unstoppable Storm this Sunday.

Last year the Sharks rode a wave of emotion unmatched in my lifetime. Fast forward 12 months and the Cowboys are approaching something similar.

Craig Bellamy will draw on last year's result, but more so he will draw on the experience and ability of Billy Slater, who for me, makes this Storm side a completely different animal.

Don't believe me? Check the NRL regular season ladder. Oh, and the fact they didn't even play that well last Friday Night yet still put 30 unanswered points on the Broncos.

Yikes!